THE first BMW electric car has gone on sale in Australia today — but the German car maker wants Australian taxpayers to foot $10,000 of its $64,000 price, and even get tolls waived on some roads.

The BMW i3 will be only the third electric car to be sold in Australia when it arrives in showrooms by the end of the year.

Despite the global push towards electric vehicles, figures show Australians have been slow to embrace petrol-free driving because of the high price of the technology and concerns about being left stranded between power points.

Indeed, the first electric car that went on sale in Australia, the Mitsubishi iMiev, has already been withdrawn from showrooms after slow sales.

And the second electric car to arrive, the Nissan Leaf, is currently being discounted by almost $20,000 — to $39,990 drive-away — in an attempt to give it a jump start.
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